Villa give a glimpse of Stevie’s future vision
STEVEN Gerrard cut a frustrated figure following Villa’s narrow 2-1 defeat to Liverpool, knowing Jurgen Klopp’s quadruple-chasing Reds were there for the taking.
Douglas Luiz got Villa off to a flier three minutes in but the hosts were immediately pegged back by Joel Matip via some suspect defending before Sadio Mane won it in the second half.
Villa had good chances to push Liverpool back again through Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings but both failed to maintain their recent scoring form.
Here are the talking points from Tuesday night’s cracker at Villa Park.
n A snapshot of Gerrard’s Villa
“We were ambitious, we were brave, courageous and we went toeto-toe with one of the best teams in the world,” said the head coach.
“They’ve got world-class players and been together for a long, long time. That was a massive challenge, a huge challenge and a big ask for my players but they haven’t let themselves down. I’m extremely proud of what they brought to the game.”
The high-octane and relentless play is exactly what Gerrard wants to build and see more of at Villa Park.
The gameplan, as the boss put it, was to “make it about their back four, play it down the sides and over” and to press and force Liverpool into errors.
Fabinho, for example, struggled early on and so did Alisson in goal. Gerrard wanted his side to really go at Klopp’s men and they did exactly that.
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Nakamba frustration
The Zimbabwean – in for his first Premier League start since early December – asked to be taken off having “run out of steam”.
Gerrard’s change, opting for Carney Chukwuemeka and shifting Douglas back in as a No.6, really harmed Villa with Mane’s winner coming just three minutes later. It possibly wouldn’t have happened if Nakamba had still been on the pitch.
“The big frustration was that Marvelous Nakamba couldn’t carry on,” Gerrard revealed. “We knew he would run out of steam at some point and Douglas went into the middle and the ball got stolen off him.
“Maybe with Marv that might not have happened but it is what it is and we have to look after Marv and his body. That’s the most important thing. We’re disappointed with both goals we conceded.” It was Chukwuemeka’s short pass to Douglas that Liverpool jumped on for the winner while, for the first goal, it was another gift as Tyrone Mings failed to clear the initial ball in.
Gerrard added: “We need to try and cut out some individual moments that are really hurting the team against the big sides.”
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Carney stance clear again
For the second match running, Chukwuemeka was Gerrard’s first pick from off the bench.
The 18-year-old is no closer to signing new terms but, again, Gerrard entrusted the England Under-19 star to come on ahead of those with Champions League and international experience.
The Post quizzed Gerrard on the situation, and he said: “He’s hopefully going to be a big player for Aston Villa.
“We want him to stay here long term. We believe it’s the right place for Carney and, again, myself and the staff have shown huge trust putting an 18-year-old in but we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t think he was ready.
“It was a good experience (against Liverpool) and a learning one for him, being on the pitch around so much quality.
“So, yeah, I hope that situation progresses in a positive way. In training he’s been fantastic and I’ve said many times, if these young kids outtrain and deserve to go onto the pitch before people who are older, I’ll put them on!”
Chukwuemeka went close to prodding home Ings’ rebound but Alisson’s save just evaded him as Villa chased an equaliser.
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It’s back-to-back home games now against Palace and Burnley prior to the season’s finale at the Etihad. The carrot of a top-10 finish is still there.
Gerrard was asked just how good his Villa could be with a bit of finetuning and his response was to the point: “(Liverpool performance) showed exactly where we are. There’s huge signs of progress.
“A lot of positives but, when we’re coming up against these sides, it’s moments that are hurting us. But I’ll go away in a positive place because there were huge signs of progress and I think you can see, quite clearly, where we want to take this.”
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Top 10 to play for Jon Moss horror show
The final word goes to one of the worst refereeing displays in recent memory at Villa Park.
Moss lost control of the game after around the 10-minute mark and kept getting decisions wrong.
Liverpool were the big beneficiaries and it rightly angered Gerrard, his players and the Villa Park faithful.
Moss is set to retire at the end of the season, to which Gerrard smiled: “Good!”
Villa are expected to lodge an official complaint to the FA over the level of his officiating.